by: lauren boothby
alberta reported another 1,799 cases of covid-19 on wednesday amid a recent a
spike in people hospitalized
for the disease and climbing icu admissions.
hospitalizations and icu admissions have nearly doubled over the last month, rising by around 88 per cent each from april 12, provincial data shows. on wednesday, they climbed to 737 including 169 in intensive care, a rise of 32 and six, respectively, from tuesday.
by wednesday, there were 24,962 active cases in alberta, down slightly from tuesday. active cases dropped by 101 in the edmonton zone to 5,606.
but calgary remained the hot spot in the province with 11,611 active cases, up 79 from the day previous.
the rate of tests returning positive for covid-19 has remained high in recent days, hitting 10.2 per cent on wednesday after 17,534 tests were completed.
another four people have died from the disease — for a total of 2,123 since the pandemic began — including a man in his 40s in the calgary zone, a woman in her 70s in the edmonton zone, a woman in her 50s in the north zone, and a woman in her 60s in the central zone.
the woman in her 60s did not have any known pre-existing conditions that would make her more susceptible to covid-19, according to alberta health.